Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from thestar.com.my URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2002/10/29/features/libird & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday, October 29, 2002 Majestic flight south By TAN CHENG LI THE sun blazed overhead, scorching the padi fields in the outskirts of Chumpon, an agriculture-based town in Southern Thailand. Undeterred by the heat, an army of birdwatchers garbed in camouflage greens continued their vigil at the site, their attention focused intently on the sky. Before long, they were aptly rewarded: black specks dot the sky. Excited shouts rang out as everyone aimed binoculars and scopes on the moving spots which were growing bigger and more numerous. Soon, the birdwatchers were able to identify the specks & #8211; the bigger ones were grey-faced buzzards and the smaller ones, Chinese sparrowhawks. The birds have gathered for the annual autumn migration. Between October and December, thousands of birds escaping the harsh winter of China, the Korean peninsula and Japan head south towards southern Asia and South-East Asia in search of warmer grounds and food. The birds will stay in the tropics until spring, when they will make the return flight home to their breeding ground. Some 150 species of birds make this annual pilgrimage but it is the raptors & #8211; the collective name for birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, buzzards, falcons, harriers, vultures and owls & #8211; which are visible because they are large and fly in the day. In a flight pattern choreographed by nature, the birds flock together for the long journey in numbers ranging from the hundreds to the thousands. Over the weekend of Oct 12 to 13, birdwatchers were joined by hundreds of villagers in Ban Utaphao in the outskirts of Chumpon for the Raptor Watch Festival, organised by the Thai Birdlife Club and Tayong local government. There, they witnessed the spectacular sight of large numbers of raptors circling, soaring, gliding and then flying off in unison in one direction & #8211; south. The raptors must have plied this migration route for eons but for the many gathered there, it was their first glimpse of this natural wonder. “It is amazing. The birds gather in big groups of 40 to 50 and then they circle in the sky,” says a visibly impressed Sumate Bhlapibul, a company manager from Bangkok. “I & #8217;ve birdwatched for five years but I & #8217;ve never seen this before.” This spectacle is visible in areas having the right geographical features. Chumpon is one such place. Located 500km from Bangkok, it sits on the Isthmus of Kra, the sliver of land connecting the Malay peninsula to the Asian mainland. Migrating birds will always fly over land for safety and so at the Isthmus of Kra, they are forced to wing over a narrow strip of terrain which stretches 64km at its widest. The concentration of migrating raptors in huge numbers here has created a birdwatchers & #8217; haven. During the two-day Raptor Watch, 30 volunteers counted over 8,200 raptors soaring over Chumpon. They recorded 19 different species, with Chinese goshawks, Japanese sparrowhawks, grey-faced buzzards and crested (or oriental) honey buzzards making up most of the numbers. Also on the move were waves of smaller migratory birds such as bee-eaters, swifts and drongos. A week later, birdwatchers counted 10,000 black bazas and 3,000 Chinese goshawks at the same site. <b>Tracking raptors</b> For some bird-lovers, raptors are kings of the bird world. Some scientists believe they are the living descendants of predatory dinosaurs. These birds have features adapted for hunting, such as powerful feet, sharp talons, hooked bills, sharp vision and excellent flight ability. It is not for nothing that raptors such as eagles and falcons have become symbolic emblems of strength, nobility and power. More importantly, raptors fulfil an ecological role: controlling populations of animals they hunt, weeding out the sick and the weak, and preventing populations from ballooning out of control. “Most raptors feed on rodents, other small mammals and insects. So they help prevent damage to crops by providing a biological pest control,” says birdwatcher Surachai Rungkunakorn. “But many people don & #8217;t know this. Instead, they shoot the birds as they believe the birds will eat their hens.” Rungkunakorn organised the Raptor Watch to change this perception. “If people understand the importance of raptors, they will want to protect the birds,” says the Bangkok-based engineer. The Raptor Watch held in Chumpon marks a step forward in efforts by nature lovers to set up a network of monitoring sites along the flyways (migration route) of raptors in the region. A similar event has been held in Malaysia for the past three years by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) at Tanjung Tuan in Malacca. Just like Chumpon, Tanjung Tuan is a beacon for migrating raptors but here, the best viewing time is during the spring migration in March when the birds fly in from Sumatra, Indonesia, on the return flight to their summer breeding grounds. The birds instinctively head towards Tanjung Tuan, a verdant promontory at the coast near Port Dickson, because the Straits of Malacca is narrowest at that point. Some 5,000 raptors were counted over two days in March. In fact, Rungkunakorn got the idea for the Thai event after participating in the MNS Raptor Watch earlier this year. And in a positive spirit of co-operation, seven MNS members travelled to Chumpon to help identify and count raptors in the recent Raptor Watch. Both sites will certainly aid in raptor conservation. Observing the migration will provide information on changes and trends in population of the differenct raptor species, says ornithologist Lim Kim Chye, a MNS volunteer. “If we don & #8217;t see juvenile birds in the flight, it may mean the birds are not breeding. So something is wrong somewhere.” As raptors sit atop the avian food chain, they are sensitive to changes in their habitat and pollutants. Thus they are widely accepted as an “indicator species” & #8211; they reflect the health of the environment. During their marathon voyage, raptors seek resting places for the night. So knowing their flight path will be helpful when targeting forested areas for preservation. Chumpon and Tanjung Tuan are just two spots along the raptor & #8217;s migration passage. The Malay peninsula, being the southernmost landmass of continental Asia, forms a natural land bridge for migratory birds which converge here before spreading south to the Indonesian Archipelago and Australasia. Thus it comes as no surprise that raptors can be seen all over Peninsular Malaysia, particularly near forested areas. Some known raptor hotspots are the Perlis state park, Taiping (over the town and at Bukit Larut) and Ipoh in Perak, the Kuala Selangor Nature Park and Hulu Klang (around Zoo Negara, the Klang Gates Ridge and the Gombak Forest Reserve) in Selangor, as well as Taman Negara and Fraser & #8217;s Hill in Pahang. <b>Perilous passage</b> There is wide agreement that a Raptor Watch site is needed urgently in Indonesia for not only is it the final winter destination for many raptors, it is also where habitat loss is greatest. “Rich forests are being transformed into biological deserts by logging and agriculture,” says ornithologist Philip D. Round, author of the widely-used field guide Birds of Thailand. “This could be disastrous for migrant birds. As it is, they have a difficult time. They suffer high mortality during long flights and when they reach Indonesia and Malaysia, there is no forest.” Data on raptor population is scanty but there are fears that the birds are being pushed to the brink for not only are they hunted, their habitat is being seized by agriculture, urban sprawl, human disturbance and pollution. A major threat is chemical contamination of their food caused by spraying of pesticides which can disrupt breeding cycles. In the 1960s, the population of bald eagles in the United States was almost wiped out when they kept laying eggs with brittle shells, a result of eating pesticide-laced fish. In this region, there is still not enough systematic surveys to show trends in migrant population but field sightings point to declining numbers. Round, a visiting professor at the Biology Department in Mahidol University in Bangkok, observes fewer black drongos, birds which migrate from India and China. He believes the reason to be insufficient food & #8211; insects which drongos feed upon are killed by spraying of pesticides in farms and plantations. It is the same in Malaysia. Glenda Noramly, a member of the MNS bird conservation council, says even the biggest number of raptors tallied in Tanjung Tuan fail to match those obtained in the past. In the 1960s and 1970s, ornithologists & #8217; extrapolated numbers show that 180,000 raptors fly past Tanjung Tuan each season. The MNS figure today is a mere 80,000. MNS & #8217;s Lim asserts that at least 10 years & #8217; worth of data is needed before scientists can comfortably draw conclusions on raptor populations. “Otherwise, we may just get seasonal changes due to weather conditions such as haze.” Unfortunately, funds for long-term monitoring, particularly on migratory birds, are hard to come by. “Thai politicians say these are Chinese birds, so why bother?” laments Round. “But in reality, these birds spend half of the year here. Bird migration is a global phenomenon and both (summer and winter) habitats are important for the birds & #8217; survival. They need food before they fly home to breed and they need habitats along the way to endure the long flight home.” Regrettably, awareness among the public is still low. Take, for example, the case of a farmer in central Thailand who was hailed as a conservationist for protecting a flock of egrets on his farm. In his endeavour, however, he had shot a greater spotted eagle, a globally threatened species, for fear that it would prey on the egrets. Fortunately, the efforts of nature groups such as the Thai Birdlife Club and the MNS in highlighting the plight of raptors have stirred public interest in these majestic birds. At the Raptor Watch in Chumpon, one visitor was Yupa Wipaswatcharayotin, a pharmacist. “I don & #8217;t know anything about these birds but I heard they come from very far away, from Siberia,” she said wide-eyed, her voice tinged with awe. “I bought some T-shirts to support the nature groups and collected some brochures. I & #8217;ll read them when I get home.” Well, the event must have perked her interest as the next day, she came by the birdwatching site again, this time with her young daughter in tow. <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. 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